As people age, they can be faced with increasing challenges in performing everyday tasks. One such challenge is sitting in standard seats. For most people falling within a wide range of what might be considered “normal” height, sitting requires bending at the knees and hips to, and sometimes beyond 90 degrees. Lowering a substantial amount of one's body weight to such a level can be challenging enough where leg muscles and ligaments, as well as knee and hip joints, may not be as strong due to age, surgical procedure, permanent medical condition, temporary illness or some debilitating injury (collectively “impaired individuals”). However difficult sitting may be for an impaired individual, an even greater challenge for such individuals is what eventually follows, i.e., rising from the seated position.
While difficult for some in most seat types, standing can be particularly difficult for impaired individuals using bench seating where there are no armrests for which to grasp and assist in the standing process. Benches are a popular form of seating in many places of public gathering, including churches, courtrooms, government meeting halls, stadiums, gymnasiums, auditoriums, and even some casual restaurants. Not all patrons and guests of these venues may have the physical ability to stand from a seated position. Where the task of sitting and standing is often repeated (e.g., church, sporting events, court, and the like), the difficulty in or inability to stand may cause some impaired individuals to avoid such places.
The invention of the present application is designed to address the sitting and standing problem faced by impaired individuals. The disclosed device provides a comfortable and effective seat for impaired individuals and facilitates sitting as well as standing from the seated position with numerous advantages in manufacture, simplicity and effectiveness.